Velldune Blightmantle
"Whether on your feet or on your knees, you too shall serve the Lich King. " Scourgelord Velldune Blightmantle (born Richard Velldune) is a Second Generation Death Knight of the Scourge and a commander for the new undead being risen into the ranks of the Scourge under the watch of Lich King Bolvar Fordragon. A knight of Stormwind in life, he fought a dozen conflicts for his kingdom and trained generations of soldiers to make them ready for battle. In death, he is a dark parody; serving his king and leading new generations of knights to greatness through bloody example to carry out the will of the king. As one of the relatively few remaining Death Knights of the Scourge, Velldune is charged with the consolidation of Scourge power, raising slain champions back into service, and shoring up of conquered lands. An arrogant and brutal warlord, Scourgelord Velldune heeds all calls to duty in service of the Lich King. Description Richard Velldune would have been the picture of a Stormwind knight in anouther life, for at one time he was. He carries himself with knightly dignity, and as such his stride is measured and rigid. His face is gaunter then in life, and his eyes glow the icy blue of any Death Knight. His body is strengthened with unholy power, and his bulk and power belay the appearance of his age. He is filled with the vitality of youth and many times over. His skin is pale, even translucent in some places, revealing black varicose veins beneath. His gaze is narrow and his eyes are not wide, he very infrequently displays human emotion. His movement is unnatural when still, possessing none of the small movements of the living. If not in motion he is like a statue, he does not shift weight or adjust his posture and doesn't even breath. Lord Blightmantle regards all with an even stare, assessing all he lays eyes on. His frozen stare flicks about people as they speak. History Early Life The life of Richard Velldune is one of inevitable struggle and warfare. Born into a low noble family during the period of long peace after the Gnoll wars to the Knight House of Velldune, he would know a life of relative ease in his younger years amidst the peerage of Stormwind and would follow his father into the Stormwind Army for military prestige. His father, a colonel in the army, drilled discipline into his son but gave him no special favors. His youth and early career would see Richard engaged in minor skirmishes with the Gnolls at the edges of the city and out into the local realms, ensuring that war-bands would not rise up and harass trade caravans. His relatively prestigious birth lending him well to warzones of his choosing. As he aged the conflicts he saw increased in scale and in scope, moving from Gnolls to Trolls as the need for experienced soldiers continued to grow. As time went on, the bulk of the army began to dedicate almost all their time to the encroaching Gurubashi trolls. The trolls, incensed to violence as human settlers continued to creep south from Stormwind, had began raiding and incurring into human lands. Over and over Richard would beat back the trolls and over and over would more marshal together to break upon the ranks of the Stormwind Guard. Conflicts would continue to escalate as the two species clashed, Richard and his unit would gradually be whittled down by conflict and raiding parties and turnover was high. It would come to boil when the prince and his friend Medihv brought ruin to Stranglethorn Vale and send the united troll clans Storming into Stormwind lands in all out war. The outer defenses of the land crumbled instantly and the armed forces were forced into constant retreat back to the cities gates. The weeks long grueling conflict would see Richard elevating to command of his unit and promotion to Sergeant, and the deaths of uncounted civilians and soldiers, including his own father. It would have gone on longer if not for the intervention of Medihv to end the war in one fell swoop. In the wake of the relatively brief but intense war the Stormwind military saw itself greatly depleted and in need of building up again. Taking after his father, he would take to instructing the next generation of knights and passing on the lessons learned in the Gurubashi Wars. Throughout the next 17 years, he would serve his king as a sergeant for a brief time and gradually advance to captain, training new generations of knights and engaging in numerous conflicts with Gnolls, Trolls, and other foes throughout the realms. In time as he aged he would begin taking squires as well, eventually taking in the son of a lesser noble house by name of Vanidicus Alexander to begin his martial training. First War and Second War The long peace would come to and at year 0, when human society was shattered. The Orcs poured through the Dark Portal and into the Black Morass. Marshaling his trainees and recruits to serve as a reserve force. A reserve force that was quickly brought to the front. Weeks of fierce fighting took their toll however, and eventually Richard would fall in battle, severely wounded in battle against an Orc Chieftan, the price for slaying the leader and breaking the spirit of the warband in that minor battle in the overall war. Unable to fight, he began to make his way back to Stormwind with the wounded, eventually though, the Horde caught up, and reached the city proper. As caravans broke down, Richard fled into the city, rushing to find his ward as the city burned, searching the stables for the boy, a group of Stormwind knights and magi escorted several civilians to safety, Van among them. Thankful for their aid, the two fled on horseback and headed north, eventually reaching dwarven land and from there ships to Lordaeron. Lordaeron would be a time of recuperation. As other refugees from the south sought out northern aid, they brought with them tales of the Horde. Richard, unable to soldier in his current state, settled with Vanidicus in Eastweald, in Cinderholme and participate how they could in the military buildup, working the farms and smithies. Richard would spend his time ingratiating himself with the town leadership trying to impart a sense of urgency into the townsfolk of the need to be ready, with mixed results. Eventually the Orcs reached the north some 6 years later and the people of Lordaeron were as prepared as possible. The Horde marched from the south and the hastily assembled town militias stood ready. While the greater battles took place at sea to the north, when the horde moved to sabotage Stratholme's oil platforms, the defenses in the Eastweald were tested. Goblin sapper groups on land moved to harry Lordaeron defenders and splinter groups from the warbands crashed into the defenses of the outlying villages around Stratholme. With some luck and an organized defense in part organized by Richard, Cinderholme survived. In time the village would be rebuilt as Stratholme was. Death The purging of Stratholme had left the peoples of Lordaeron troubled. Paranoia gripped the land as plague continued to spread slowly throughout the land. As towns became isolated in quarantine became the norm. As trade gradually broke down throughout the region, the remaining trade dealt with weapons and defensive stockpiles, with the greatest buildup at Darrowshire to the south, itself a target during the second war. The undead began to shamble about the land and wander into the towns; the Scourge had arrived. The period of silence came to an abrupt end as the Scourge took control of Lordaeron. Pouring out from the capital, the scourge washed across the land. The Cult of the Damned rose up simultaneously as the agents of the Lich King claimed vast swathes of land. The greatest servants of the Scourge, the Liches, servants of Ner'zhul, marched at the head of the armies. It would be the Lich, Zhekkan Gravecaller, who would be Richard's undoing. As the undead began to encroach upon Cinderholme in greater and greater numbers, Richard and the town elders made an effort to evacuate the town. The town's militia rallied to a valiant defense to hold the line and Vanidicus, now a capable knight and soldier, fought with him. As the assault reached its peak and the defenders began to wear down, Richard sent Van away with who was left. Once the battle was assured to be a scourge victory, the Lich himself appeared to taunt the remaining defenders briefly. Their efforts were magnificent, and their resistance invigorating to the once-orc Lich, and thus he ordered the remaining militia subdued. Richard remained as leader, and he was identified. When the town was overrun and he was captured, he was congratulated for his efforts by Zhekkan asking for his last words. Richard gave none, and for his efforts the lich reached down and froze his heart in his chest, and handed him his runeweapon as a death knight of the scourge. The Scourge In death, he was reinvigorated, his wounds mended with grafted flesh, and his body clad in rune inscribed armor. Imbued with great necromantic knowledge at the will of his master, Richard's eye for talent was put to use in death to select the most skilled militiamen of his former town for Zhekkan's personal guard, and Velldune his Dread-Captain. Zhekkan Gravecaller, ever ambitious, began his campaign of destruction across Lordaeron, and his knights led the charge. Richard reaved across the land, carving swaths of destruction through villages and towns. Of the fallen defenders, the mightiest were examined; the finest knights and guards raised to death knight status into the service of the gravecaller, their souls claimed for the Lich King. The grasp upon Lordaeron was most important. As the bulk of the Scourge marched north into Quel'Thalas to carry out the Lich King's plans, Richard joined with his fellow knights to drive forward the armies of the dead. They reaved across the land and in their wake, the cult of the damned followed, dragging the choice specimens to the slaughterhouses and the Schools of Necromancy, while the valiant dead were taken as knights. Positioning himself foremost among his brethren, he would take these new recruits to his side and by example inculcate them into such destruction and ruin upon the towns and villages of Lordaeron that he would come to be known as Blightmantle for the plagued ruin left in his wake. In the aftermath of the Third War, and the legion's fall at Hyjal, the Lich King would command Arthas to return to Northrend in the wake of a sudden weakening of his powers. At this moment of mental lapse, huge swaths of undead broke free of the Lich King's control and divided into three factions. The Dreadlord Insurgents, the Forsaken, and the Scourge proper. The Scourge civil war raged across lordaeron, with Kel'Thuzad himself leading the loyalist forces. Though the voice of the Lich King had receded in this time, the guidance of the Arch-Lich Kel'Thuzad would bind the Scourge together in this time as the newly created Forsaken and Dreadlords battled it out. Though hated enemies, the two enemy factions always found time to strike at the weakened Scourge. With wide scale command and control compromised, Velldune waged a series of defensive operations as the Scourge Territory shrank. During the war, Velldune distinguished himself for battlefield initiative and violence, leading spearhead assaults against enemy undead, summoned demonic forces, and human military remnants. In the end, Sylvanas's forces would be victorious and claim the capital city, forcing the scourge back into the Plaguelands. But upon the ascension of Arthas to title of Lich King, the power of the Scourge would be restored, and the undead swept forth through the Plaguelands, capturing almost all of the territory lost in the civil war save for the capital city itself, which remained firmly in the hands of the Forsaken. At the Lich King's behest, many knights returned to their bases, preparing for the next stage of the grand plan. For three years Velldune remained within Naxxramas instructing the forces under his command in particular ways of warfare, until the time came for the Scourge to reach out into the world once more to carry out the long term plans of the Lich King. At the command of his masters, his students finally took to the field; Death Knights, cultists, and the undead surged across the planet, striking out across the Alliance and the Horde to weaken them and claim precious resources and bodies for the Scourge. Though objective after objective was completed and Scourge influence grew, in time, the heroes of the living would reach the citadel of Naxxramas and begin their attack. Velldune would meet his match in the Plaguewood, overwhelmed by a force of warriors and paladins with great flaming swords while on patrol with a force of skeletons and scourge soldiers. It was not to be his final end, the paladins and warriors instead aimed to subdue one of his minions, and drove the knight off. In the interim two years, the mortal races would find themselves distracted from the Scourge by the Burning Legion's invasion once more. The phylactery of Kel'thuzad, thought destroyed, was delivered back to the dread citadel and the master of Naxxramas returned. The overall goal of the Scourge's previous attack was completed, and thousands and thousands of bodies were recovered by the unliving. Where before humanity made up the bulk of the death knights, Instructor Velldune would find himself tutoring members of all races, raised into undeath and selected for their unique strengths and powers, members of the horde races were especially prized for their greater physical strength and prowess. For half remembered reasons, he despised training Trolls and was especially harsh upon them. With a newly resurrected and stronger army at his command, the Lich King called Naxxramas back to Northrend so that his plan to thwart the Argents could go into effect. The War in Northrend Upon reaching Northrend, Velldune would be recalled to Icecrown shortly after return with a small contingent of death knights, who would be positioned at Mord'rethar to hold the gate. As the war against the living escalated, initial assaults began upon the great gates of Icecrown. Velldune took part in the defensive strategy at Mord'rethar. As the alliance mounted their first assaults, the Scourge forces proved to be too much. Ordering a masterful flank maneuver, Velldune fully engaged with the invaders. But as the Alliance forces regrouped to attacked again, a horde force struck from behind, allowing the Scourge to overrun both groups and destroy them, while taking considerable losses in the process. Velldune ordered the horde bodies destroyed and the Alliance bodies added to the growing number of risen soldiers as the necromancers began their work. Velldune would spend the majority of his time in Icecrown after the initial defenses fell. His savagery thwarted many attacks and operations, and he stymied assaults daily. As war raged across Northrend, Velldune was ordered to retreat back to the lower reaches of the citadel along with a small contingent of knights and damned cultists. They would be a reserve force as the forces of the Ashen Verdict closed in upon Icecrown; he was ordered by his King to ready himself and to be ready to slay the living...but no further orders came. When he reached out to the Lich King he received only silence. Without further orders he carried on with his last instructions, and the forces of the living were unable to dislodge them from their position. For weeks they held position, and eventually moved out, they fought off Argent mop up forces and remnants of horde and alliance groups that skulked the base of the citadel. Eventually the attacks slowly ceased, patrols no longer came to Icecrown. Weeks became months and months became years. Eventually, the knights, now more free-thinking, decided to venture forth out into the wastes and found the Scourge strangely dormant. Gone was the sense of purpose, replaced with a dull lethargy. Only the evidence of a great and terrible siege remained. Over the years, the Death Knights scattered, drifting apart to carry out their last orders as they saw fit, some trying to grasp for power in the vacuum of the Lich King's absence, some were resigned to their fate in perpetuity. Velldune would walk across the lands, slaying all living he came across, making note of who showed promise. The eye of the instructor always seeks new students... The Lich King Awakens For years the Lich King was silent. One day while on patrol about the citadel, a voice spoke into his mind. The rumble of power that marked that of the Lich King. Velldune felt a faint twinge of relief and a hint of gladness...the King is dead. Long live the King. His orders were simple, to cleanse the realm of Northrend, to raise new soldiers, to make ready for war upon the Burning Legion, something Richard Velldune relished the thought of. He set off immediately on orders from his king, seeking out the resting places of fallen knights and deceased soldiers of the Scourge. Though his necromantic powers did knights old and new return to life. Antheros Frostgrave, Dimonar Icecaller, and others. All raised back into the Lich Kings service. An alliance with the Ebon Blade was being established...and the Lich King had plans. The traitorous Ebon Blade was returning to the fold and they would need new knights. The Interim The knight was given a simple order; to consolidate the power of the Scourge. To this end, Richard was sent south from Northrend and into the Plaguelands, where the last bastions of undead power lay and petty once-scourge warlords and feral undead polluted the land. Richard took to his task with astonishing speed and efficiency, rounding up legions of undead and casting down dozens of would be lords. Assisting him with this grand task were the remnants of the schism-ridden Cult of the Damned, operating from his main base in Ebonmourne. It would be here that the knight would venture out into the world, from this bastion of loyal undead, and through the death gates established in the ziggurat's would the undead return to Northrend. Upon venturing Northward, close to the Elflands, Velldune happened upon a group of Dark Rangers. Soundly defeating them and forcing them to flee, these dark rangers would hound Velldune throughout his mission, and Velldune would take every opportunity he could to slay them and return them to the service of the Scourge. As the rangers found out more about the knight, they followed his patterns to the town of Terrordale, once Cinderholme, where the knight dwelt with a risen militia of the once inhabitants. Richard was lured from his command post by the rangers, who he considered a stain upon his warped sense of honor, and chase them down, savagely beating the once human forsaken, known as Aleksi, within an inch of his unlife before the banshee rangers managed to dislodge him. Eventually chasing them into a house, the knight was distracted for but a moment by the remnants of his mortal life, long enough for the set bomb to go off and blast him underground and leave him under a couple tons of rubble. He would survive and spend two days digging himself out, sending his messengers to track down the forsaken and offer them terms for an honor dual. The duel was accepted, and the rangers met with the Knight, and bested him in fierce combat. The fight invigorated and for a moment his former sense of honor and glory returned. Defeated and interrogated, through dark magic was he compelled to reveal knowledge they truly wished for, the knowledge of one of Velldune's allies, Warmaster Anton Frostheart. The knight granted their wish to find him and tore open a death gate to Icecrown where he took them to the citadel and waited. The rangers took their revenge, and got their answers, but found that it was a pyrrhic victory, for even as the dead closed in around them, the two knights, slain by the rangers by black arrows and dark magics, rose up from the hallowed ground of the Scourge. The rangers were forced to flee back through the holes of the death gates, wondering if they truly won. The Legion War Velldune was commended for his mission. The sheer number of undead returned to Northrend and for his tactics in bringing rebel forsaken back into the fold had boosted the ranks of the Scourge by a significant number. For his success, he was marked, and singled out for ascension. Throughout the legion war, Velldune served at the forefront of the Lich Kings armies. The legion swept through Azeroth as it staked claims and footholds upon the planet. No land was exempt, including Northrend. Throughout the legion war, the once masters of the Lich King, made great efforts to seize their once servant. The dreadlord Makathra spearheaded the assault, leading a fleet of voidships to the frozen north, and begun the assault upon Icecrown. His moment of glory came early, in the Valley of Fallen Hero's before the citadel itself. In the opening bombardments, a towering infernal landed in the ice. It rose up and began to move towards the citadel escorted by lesser infernals. Scourge washed out to meet them, and Velldune cast down a dozen constructs before the towering infernal began to come too close. Waves of Bone Sentinels and Sanctum Guardians thundered forth from the citadel, and the skeletal corpses of the Storm Giants clashed with the thing. Velldune, binding the towering skeletons to his will, ordered them to bind the giant infernal. With a great surge of necromantic power, Velldune reached out and hurled his runeblade into the heartstone of the construct. And through this connection, tore the essence from the thing, felling it in a single blow, though forcing him to withdraw from the field to the citadel. For slaying the giant, he was called before the Frozen Throne, and elevated to Scourgelord. The mightiest generals of the scourge were assigned to the defense of Aldur'thar, the horror gate. To serve him, a mighty army of abominations and flesh constructs strode forth as uncounted ghouls swarmed around them at the command of lesser knights and soldiers. For one hundred days and one hundred nights, the scourge fought. Pushing back wave after wave of demons. The frostwyrms, recalled to defend the Icecrown Citadel, would be sparse in their aid to them in reaching the ships from the ground. It would take months until the endless waves of demons broke upon the fleshy mass of the scourge. The brief pause would see gargoyals and bats swarm the ship, picking off demons and lesser soldiers of the legion. It was during this war that Velldune would come to know the Lich King's momentary displeasure, as command of the overall armies was given to anouther of his favored; a Hand of the King, Lord Vahled who assumed overall command over the defenses, and the lord was made subservient to him. Velldune was ordered forward into the tide of demons to stake out a more solid battleline. Repeated attacks marked the bulk of the war as the legion fought to claim other footholds across Northrend, but the focus was always upon the Lich King. On the fourty-first day, the dreadlord Makathra appeared at the head of his army, calling a great challenge forth to the Scourge, challenging their greatest knights to go against his mightiest Fel Lords. Dozens of knights fell in battle, and many fel lords did in kind. In the end Lord Vahled sent Velldune forward. The Scourgelord did not challenge a fel lord, and instead ordered all scourge forces to surge forward at command of his King. In a decisive battle amidst the swirling chaos, Scourgelord Velldune defeated the dreadlord by commanding abominations to bind him with chains and he rammed his runeblade through the dreadlords chest, drawing his essence out and casting him back into the twisting nether. The break in leadership, finally allowing a moment of disorder from the legion voidships, allowed the frostwyrms to swoop in and destroy them, breaking the legion assault upon Icecrown. For the remainder of the Legion War, Velldune would fall under the overall command of Hand Vahled, and charged with the fortification of Scourge Armies alongside Scourgelords Chaucina; Warden of the Necromancers, and Motivid the Plaguelord. He would be tasked with drawing out the Legion remnants who encroached upon the fallen kingdom of Zul'drak, gifted with the Necropolis Haramas. With methodical precision, the Scourgelord drew out the demons and crushed them. The campaign would be marked with gradual bouts of infighting with his fellow knights until Velldune and Chaucina were recalled to the Cathedral of Darkness and charged to commune with their King directly, and the bickering knights would be separated in their duties from thereon out. The gradual assault by lesser demons continued, but never again reached such ferocity as before, until one day, the Planet Argus appeared in the sky. The tide of battle shifted, and the Scourge washed out and began to conquer lost ground once more until the demons suddenly stopped reinforcing, and the planet in the sky vanished, leaving the realm of the dead as still as the grave once more. After this, Velldune alone would head up the shoring up of Zul'drak, and afterward would remain there, keeping parts of it under his protection, taking parts of the Scourged realm as a fief to watch over as the lord he never was in life. And it would be there he spent the remainder of the Legion War. Post-Legion War Scourgelord Velldune has remained in the Frozen North for months, and his oversight over parts of Zul'drak continues to progress. As consolidation nears completion, he has begun interrogating his new subjects, the Drakkari trolls, now undead. They speak of death gods and soul claimers, and thus did Velldune learn of the existence of Bwonsamdi and his ire towards the Scourge. Orders from the Lich King were quiet for the time, and so Velldune put out a telepathic summons of his own to seek counsel on what this other death god meant for his duties. He was attended to by a small gathering of San'layn, who Velldune would try to question for counsel, but it would prove useless. They declared him ineffective and weak, and that they made to defect from the Scourge. The Lich King would not let this pass, and Velldune made to strike them down, some were not so lucky, the rest escaped, managing to break the Necromantic control the Scourgelord held. Velldune would begin taking a more direct involvement into patrolling the realm of Zul'drak until his time there ended. Guardians of the Throne In time, the ordering of the Fallen Kingdom would come to completion, and he was recalled to the Citadel. By summons of the Lich King, and by call of the Warmaster Anton Frostheart, he entered into conclave with the Knights who had heeded the call. Many possible futures were known to their king, and thus dangers. The Knights took their place as palace guards, swearing anew to ensure that their Kings plans would come to fruition. The role of the praetorians would be to first shore up the kingdom and crush what rebellions remained; from Vykrul renegades, splinters of the cult, and vestigial tendrils of dead gods. His position of Scourgelord saw him elevated to lead this Dark Brotherhood under the auspices of Warmaster Anton Frostheart as the tactical commander and overseer of armaments. To this end, he has begun raising armies of undead, following the commands of the King to recover bodies left fresh after the devastation of the Fourth War worldwide. To his meticulous standards are they training and equipped while all threats to the King's power are put down. The Helm of Domination showed threats approaching and need for consolidation of power. To this end, the coldforges lit once more and the remaining loyalists in the fragmented and schismatic Cult of the Damned brought back together. The first task the order was placed with was the scourging of Vykrul splinter groups under the Sveldrek, and control over what undead remnants remained. To do so, the Knights invaded the bastions of Vykrul resistance, and brutally cut their way through the soldiery until the thane emerged, and he was captured and placed under Scourge control via banshee possession. Control over the Thane would sow confusion amidst the rest of the holdouts, and conflicting commands and counter orders made the clean up easy prey. With Icecrown broadly secure, the Great Gates peopled with soldiery once more, and the rebels quashed, the next task would be to move beyond Icecrown and set about bringing the scourge realms back into compliance. Starting with Zul'drak, the praetorians now move from necropolis to necropolis bringing undead troll warlord and damned rebels back into the fold or executing them where they stand. Holdings As a commander of the Scourge, Velldune holds his own fortress in Icecrown, known as the Silent Keep, overlooking the rampart of the Death Gate. Velldune claims stewardship and command of the Death Gate; Mord'Rethar, and the war machines built within it. To his eyes, the first line of Icecrown's defense lies with him. A spartan fortress, taken over from the previous ruler in the years since the fall of Arthas. It is well equipped with weapons and armament, as well as Runeforging facilities. A contingent of Scourge soldiers lies dormant within, ready for reanimation at command of Velldune. Personality and traits "Though we both have died, the tomb of the noble is greater then the grave of the peasant. In death we are not equals." - Scourgelord Velldune Richard is distant, prideful, and confident in his service to the Lich King and acts as a knight would in service to his lord. In death his emotions are deadened but he maintains several habits he possessed in life in some form, even if most of his former life is fragmented in his memory. He thus possesses a twisted semblance of honor, seeking to separate the weak from the strong and elevating them to new levels. He has an intense hatred for traitors and utter contempt for the cowardly, he is willing to work together with former enemies to accomplish a greater goal, and will not turn on them once the task at hand is complete. In addition, while in Icecrown he feels compelled to attend the Cathedral of Darkness on Sundays for reasons he cannot place. Richard follows the Code of Chivallry, but warped and twisted to dark means: To fear the Lich King and maintain His rule To serve the liege lord in valour and faith To protect the scourge To give succour to the dead and the dying To refrain from meaningless overthinking To live by honour and for glory of the Lich King To strive only for Eternal Reward To fight for the welfare of the Scourge To obey the Lich King and his chosen Liches To guard the honour of fellow knights To bring the justice of the grave. To keep faith with the Luch King At all times to speak the truth of the Lich King To persevere to the end in any enterprise begun To respect the honour of the dead Never to refuse a challenge from an equal Never to turn the back upon a foe He expects much of his students but gives much to those under his guide. Commanding extensive prowess in the unholy, his skill in raising the dead is equaled only by his martial skill. He drills his students to incorporate magic into their techniques, for simple fighting is for mortals, true greatness comes from an agile mind and a talent for exploiting the weaknesses opened up by the magic of decay. Equipment * 'Knightly Tools: '''Velldune carries various items about his person. A vicious looking dagger dipped in the blight of Putricide's labs, pouches containing bone power and pieces of slain favored students, and rune scrolls for necromantic rituals for the raising of powerful undead. * '''Frostguard: '''Most prominent upon his person is the weapon of the Scourgelord; Frostguard. The weapon is either sheathed upon his back or held within his hand, and is his most valued possession. By design it is a longsword of eldritch patterns, and possessed of such mass and poor weighting that only beings of superhuman strength may wield it effectively. Created in the coldforges of the Scourge, the blade remained in possession of the Lich Zhekkan Gravecaller for an unknown length of time once the Lich arrived on Azeroth before being bestowed to Velldune at the moment of his death. It is thought by its master to be one of the first generation of runeblades created when the Lich King and the beginnings of the Undead Scourge were hurled down to Azeroth. Supporting this personal theory is the presence of an Eye of the Lich King upon the hilt. Through this arcane endowment the blade is bestowed with a crude sentience and an extra avenue of sight that is one with the bearer's, guiding the hand to allow every thrust, parry and killing blow to be made with unerring accuracy. The blade is anointed with four runes of necropotence and decay; two on each side, which serve to bolster the powers of its master considerably and when struck against an object, unless it too be fortified with magic, causes it to decay and rust to ashes even as the blade strikes it. * '''The Armor of Scourge Lords: '''This artificer set of runic battle-plate was created in the Soul Forges beneath Icecrown Citadel by the master artisans of the damned. These suits of armor are commissioned as needed for the mightiest generals of the Scourge, and customized as per the recipients desires. Each piece of the armor is handcrafted over many days such that a masters precision goes into it. Each plate is forged of the purest of Primordial Saronite mined from the slave-quarries and cooled in the blood of a champion of worth, binding their soul inexorably to the plate and the witch-light of their soul roils within, giving the wearer proof against magic and blows made only greater by the armor's material. The armor renders the wearer virtually invulnerable to conventional magical attacks such that energy bleeds away or is deflected away, and the bulk belies its startling lightness rendering his movement unencumbered. The armor is not all protecting though. Engulfing magical attacks, gas, or chemical weapons are able to penetrate the plating gaps and strike at the animate flesh within, though it too is nigh indestructible. About the gorget beneath his helmet, written in the language of death is the name 'Zhekkan', for his once master himself presented the suit to the Scourgelord, reminding him forever of who he owes favour to. Close inspection would note that key seams on plates where buckles might lie are instead welded shut, sealing Velldune inside his armor. * '''Crown of Scourge Lords: '''It would be hard for Velldune to decide which matters more to him; his blade or his helm. Truthfully he could be stripped of all else but the two, and he would serve fine. The crowns serve a special place in Scourge society, a thing already inexorably entwined with the precepts of human nobility. The Scourgelords serve as rough analogues to Archduke's in the hierarchy of the Scourge, surpassed only in authority by the chosen champions of the Lich King, and by the One True King. Bestowed only unto those Scourge Champions who have proven themselves indispensable to the Lich King and provided a mighty service to the Scourge. This authority is marked by the helm in question, serving as a coronet to the crown of the Lich King. Forged of primordial saronite refined to such purity as to be nigh impossible and adamantium such that it is nigh unbreakable, these helms are forged with a single shadowfrost shard of the Frozen Throne. The bearer of this crown is tied directly into the Lich King's god-like consciousness and may communicate with Him thereby, as well as maintain unparalleled command over any and all undead ranging from subordinates knights to entire armies of the damned and all higher-order undead within. Perhaps the greatest asset to the wearer is the ability to access the ''genius loci of the Scourge; thus, at will, the bearer can seek out knowledge contained within a soul tied into the Lich King's consciousness and learn what it knows for the benefit of the wearer as well as rendering the bearer impervious to mental assault or manipulation, shielded that they are by the will of a death god. Category:Human Category:Death Knights Category:Undead Scourge Category:Order of the Ebon Blade